Given that the Unreal4 license doesn't allow any editing apps to be released that include or call any portions of Unreal4's standard content/level editing tools, unless the Deadhold project team is planning on building their own level editors to create the maps/levels for Deadhold instead of using Unreal4's standard content editing tools it's probably a little unrealistic to expect full fledged end-user map/level editing tools too ...at least not anywhere near the release of the multiplayer portion of the game.

NOT a criticism of the Deadhold team, it's a lot of work these guys have taken on and I thoroughly support their ambition, drive and priorities (multiplayer first to tune the game engine/play mechanics, then solo campaign) and can't wait to play this game.

They don't have the legal right to sell or give away any game that uses the myth 'engine'.

Since at least part of the team worked on Myth III and they don't want to get sued by an insane sleeping corporate giant suddenly awakened to the fact that they let a valuable franchise wither and die, they have to be very careful not to use anything to closely myth-like, that includes underlying code, graphics, units, etc.

UnrealEngine4 - which is what Deadhold is being written in, is a truly modern cross-platform environment. Games written in it can run on Macs, Windows, iOS and Android so this new game will have a much larger audience of players.

As you can see from the demo video, UnrealEngine4 provides a really robust environment in which to build their game. While they will have to do a lot of customizations and coding and a lot of artwork/content-creation/map-level making, they don't have to create an entire game engine from scratch.

This is not representative of Deadhold, this is our very first day that we got functioning myth-like baseline multiplayer working - I'm sure to the uninitiated it will look super goofy and weird, and we're missing three fundamental gameplay systems that will differentiate this from Myth ... BUT. it was a super great feeling to finally have it all functional, even if incredibly rough. It represents an enormous amount of under the hood work, building an entire RTS from scratch in Unreal4.

Even at this earliest stage we're seeing glimmers of that great gameplay, and funny moments. Anyway, just wanted to share.

Now onto some of the comments and questions: (this might be a long post - sorry!)

2) Why make Deadhold, and not Myth?

Simple, I don't want to make another Myth. I love Myth, but we have 15 years of ideas stored up, and Myth isn't ours to make or remake. Deadhold will be commercial (if there was any doubt). Make no mistake, Deadhold is a labor of love and passion, but much of that is fuelled by our need to do something fresh, and something that is ours, while paying homage to our roots.

We can't please everyone, and it's folly to try, but we believe Deadhold will make the majority of Mythers extremely happy, and as development progresses, we'll need the community's help to guide us.

1) Devtools

The short answer is we don't know yet. As vinylrake correctly pointed out there are some limitations with Unreal4's licensing, in that we can't redistribute UE4 (their editor) for free. Other issues include their .pak system isn't completed yet in a way that would allow drop in maps and packages - yet, it's on their roadmap, specifically for Unreal Tournament.

Obviously as guys who cut our teeth in the Myth community, we are strongly in favour of modding, its a question of is it doable with the resources we have, and if so, when. We just don't know yet, but we'll keep you all posted on our thoughts as more info trickles out from Epic.

Epic is amazing by the way, they totally blow my mind. I know everyone really has a lot invested in Myth tools, but I do wonder what people in the community could create if they picked up Unreal4 and started tinkering around. I was at GDC (Game developer conference) when Epic announced U4 for $19 a month, _everyone_ had their minds blown. Masterchief has been doing some really great work with U4. I wish Myth peeps would take more advantage of the best gaming engine/toolset to come out in a decade, especially if anyone has aspirations for the industry.

Anyway, aside from those heavier topics above, do check out the multiplayer vid, its hard for us to judge with fresh eyes this work, and we're curious how its perceived. Is it totally stupid looking and goofy - or can you guys see some promise in there?

Anywyay, thanks all for the interesting discussion above, as always, if you think of anything to ask, just throw it up here, and I'll do my best to answer.

sweet vid. obviously rough but impressive, especially given how early on you are in the development. I'd say there's some seriously fun gameplay potential shining through those untexured generic warriors.

Hey fisj, long time my friend. I was very excited when I saw Iggy's name on the Devlist and now seeing you really gets me excited for this. I know you are trying to make sure to point out that this isn't Myth, but damn if what I've seen doesn't remind me of the early days of Myth.

I'm curious if there are any other ex-Bungiers or Mythers that are part of your team as well?

Also, would be cool, if if we had one myth with this visual graphical version, all in an environment containing all enemies (thrall,ghoul,soulless etc) of myth.you imagine a confrontation like this in Willow Creek against ghasts !

I've been answering a few questions on the Gate of Storms forums. I also suggested that we could discuss some of the ways Myth type gameplay could be enhanced with the power of 16 years of exponential cpu power increases.

Some suggested areas for discussion:Persistence, Progression, Skins and Armor (cosmetic), Custom cheers/taunts, Different and more complex behavior, chaining orders to units (walk along this spline, attack this unit with harassing behavior), unique attacks for specific units against others, ragdolls, different unit abilities and ways for them to interact with each other, landscapes can now be fully 3d, castle sieges, different gamemodes.

Meanwhile, we've got our noses to the proverbial grindstone. Lots to do! I'll have an update on our projected prototype playable schedule soon(trademark), and what we're thinking there. Iggy and I have a commentary playtest recorded to go out in a bit. Again, I'll remind everyone that we're super early days, later Deadhold content will make this look SO ugly.

One last note, if you haven't liked us on facebook, or followed us on twitter, I encourage you to do so. Most of our updates are there and (annoyingly), social media is a hugely important part of building interest in games. If you have any old myth buddies, maybe poke them to let them know.

We're not bringing anyone on to the team currently, but we will need help evangelizing, and a bit later, playtesting and offering feedback on the prototypes. I think the feeling is that we'd like everyone's help on this, and aren't making any pre-emptive bans.

That said, counter productive politics and bad behaviour won't be tolerated. We're in this to make something cool, and have fun doing it, and build (rebuild?) a great community.